Starring: Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow, Noel O'Donovan
Directed by: Anand Tucker
Certificate: PG
Runtime: 97 minutes
UK release date: 26 February 2010:
The three rules of romantic comedy. One: At least one plausible romance. Two: Some comedic elements which ensure giggles and, if possible, a guffaw or two. Three: A leading lady and man who are likeable individually and have chemistry. Out of the three? Leap Year has a half. That half is Matthew Goode.
The story follows Anna (Amy Adams), a perfect New Yorker with a perfect job as she waits for a proposal from her oh so perfect doctor-type boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) with whom she is already buying a very perfect flat. It's the perfect time for a proposal. The scene is set; the moment is right; she opens the box and it's... earrings. So not perfect. So as Jeremy disappears to Dublin for work, Anna decides that she's going to take matters into her own hands and follow an Irish tradition where a woman can propose to a man only on "leap day". Off she goes to Ireland but due to weather and bad luck she doesn't quite make it to Dublin and has to enlist the help of grumpy but gorgeous Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her and her Louis Vuitton suitcase to said place of proposal. As we follow their journey their initial disdain for each other turns into something else, Anna gets her hands dirty, finds out there's more to life than shoes and apartments and we wait with bated breath to see what will happen when she gets to Dublin .
The story is fine. It's standard rom-com fare with your obvious girl thinking life is perfect till she meets that guy and gets to see the real world. Sweet Home Alabama, Hannah Montana, Did You Hear About the Morgans - to name a few - all did it. But while these all succeeded in some degree, the major element missing from Leap Year is believability. Amy Adams, as much as we love her, doesn't suit the preened New Yorker as much as Reece Witherspoon or Sarah Jessica Parker.
A few years back this would have been Jennifer Aniston's role for the taking. The chemistry is forced and lacking and while we can see why she'd fall for his rugged charms,her character's not particularly likeable so why he'd go for her is anyone's guess.
The ending will leave you with more of an "oh, please, as if" reaction to the preferred hold-back-tears-of-happiness reaction as everything comes together. The worst thing though is that it's just not funny. Even the slapstick moments in Did You Hear About the Morgans managed to do right, don't work. It's definitely not the worst film we've seen and not the worst rom com ever made, but leave your money where it is and wait for it to come to a TV screen near you.
